SD card and battery questions.

[mhw100]

Does the use of an SD card use more battery than simply using internal memory? I listen to music stored on my device and wondering if accessing a card causes more drain than the faster internal storage.

I'm thinking of not using cloud storage any longer and just using a card being backed up periodically to a computer.

Finally which card would be the best to use?

 

[B. Diddy]

SD card usage should not increase battery usage. The main thing to keep in mind about SD cards is their inherent unreliability compared to onboard memory. SD cards have a finite read/write limit, so if they're being accessed very frequently, they can fail sooner (and cards in general use relatively low quality chips, even those from well-known manufacturers -- I was told this by an acquaintance in the industry). Never use an SD card as the sole storage for important data -- always keep it backed up somewhere.

In addition, counterfeit cards are still common, especially if you get them from random sellers on eBay. Stick with big retailers. If you order from Amazon, make sure it's being sold by Amazon or the SD card manufacturer themselves, not some 3rd party seller.

 

[SpookDroid]

Depends on the usage. Accessing external memory vs accessing internal one in terms of battery consumption should be of negligible difference between each other. However, if your SD card is damaged or the phone is rebooted multiple times throughout the day, this may cause the phone to re-scan the card for media files every single time it is unmounted/mounted. This can also include apps that move or re-download files to internal memory if they detect the card has been removed (which is why the card isn't really recommended for anything other than external downloads that aren't critical to app usage).

If this is the case, the re-scan of the card will use up more power (that isn't related to accessing the data itself, if that makes sense).

 

[B. Diddy]

Depends on the usage. Accessing external memory vs accessing internal one in terms of battery consumption should be of negligible difference between each other. However, if your SD card is damaged or the phone is rebooted multiple times throughout the day, this may cause the phone to re-scan the card for media files every single time it is unmounted/mounted. This can also include apps that move or re-download files to internal memory if they detect the card has been removed (which is why the card isn't really recommended for anything other than external downloads that aren't critical to app usage).

If this is the case, the re-scan of the card will use up more power (that isn't related to accessing the data itself, if that makes sense).

Good point!

 

[mhw100]

Sounds its better to stick with cloud storage then given the above issues. Thank you.

 

[mustang7757]

Sounds its better to stick with cloud storage then given the above issues. Thank you.

Definitely, on my Samsung devices, i use smart switch on computer,Google drive, Samsung cloud

 

[B. Diddy]

Sounds its better to stick with cloud storage then given the above issues. Thank you.

SD storage isn't all bad -- there are certainly scenarios where it can come in very handy. Just make sure you have the music safely backed up or synced somewhere else.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Sounds its better to stick with cloud storage then given the above issues. Thank you.

Until you consider the data connection needed for cloud storage, sure we have unlimited data but all carriers still throttle at some point. Plus you aren't guaranteed to have a strong signal at all times and both cell service and home WiFi can experience outages.

It's possible for SD cards to fail, but it's incredibly rare.

 

[B. Diddy]

It's possible for SD cards to fail, but it's incredibly rare.

I think your points about access to signal and throttling are spot on, but I would say that I've had several cards fail on me (and these were from pretty well-known manufacturers as well). One of them was in a phone my daughter was using, and she lost some artwork she had worked on -- some tears were shed.:'(

 

[Laura Knotek]

Definitely, on my Samsung devices, i use smart switch on computer,Google drive, Samsung cloud

I use all of those plus OneDrive.

I do have photos and music on an SD card (Samsung brand), but my data is backed up to other places so that I won't lose anything if the card fails.

 

[mustang7757]

I use all of those plus OneDrive.

I do have photos and music on an SD card (Samsung brand), but my data is backed up to other places so that I won't lose anything if the card fails.

How do you like one drive?

 

[Laura Knotek]

How do you like one drive?

I do. I figure I might as well use it since I have subscription to Office365 which gives me 1 TB OneDrive storage.

 

[mustang7757]

I do. I figure I might as well use it since I have subscription to Office365 which gives me 1 TB OneDrive storage.

Sweet

 

[L0n3N1nja]

I think your points about access to signal and throttling are spot on, but I would say that I've had several cards fail on me (and these were from pretty well-known manufacturers as well). One of them was in a phone my daughter was using, and she lost some artwork she had worked on -- some tears were shed.:'(

Anything can fail, but personal experience has taught me to never have one copy of my files because hardware fails. I own well over a dozen micro SD cards at this point, I trust them more than I do most other forms of storage because they are the only thing that hasn't failed on me yet.

 

[mhw100]

Is there one for speed and reliability you pros recommend? So many on Amazon and Best Buy.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Is there one for speed and reliability you pros recommend? So many on Amazon and Best Buy.

Samsung and SanDisk.

 

[B. Diddy]

Sandisk is known for having excellent warranty coverage: https://kb.sandisk.com/app/warranty/a_id/22478

 

[Laura Knotek]

Here's the warranty info for the Samsung card I'm currently using. It's 10 years.

 

[illdini]

As others have posted, Samsung & SanDisk are the most reliable options. Just make sure you purchase directly from Amazon (to avoid fakes) and backup to computer and/or cloud, just in case.